Drug-eluting biodegradable nanoparticles can be used for a variety of biological applications, such as wound healing and arthritis treatment (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,935,782 and WO 2009/061854, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety). However, it can be difficult to control particle size and morphology to achieve nanoparticles with reproducible results. Additionally, previous attempts to produce crosslinked particles were limited in size and therefore could only be loaded with a limited amount of a given drug. Smaller particles also tended to biodegrade more quickly than larger particles, and were therefore unable to provide sustained release of for a desired duration.
Moreover, current drug delivery particles can suffer from a burst effect, wherein a substantial portion of a drug dispersed therein is released quickly released in a short period followed by a lower release rate. This has the effect of initially over dosing a patient and then later under dosing the patient.